Behind the scenes: 'Kennismakers'
At UMU (ľϸӰ Museum Utrecht), students work as ‘Kennismakers’ (museum educators). They give workshops and research tours to school classes and families, and help visitors explore the museum. The Kennismakers act as a bridge between research and the public: they themselves have one foot in science and can talk from their own experience about their studies and research. Three students talk about their unique side job: what is it like to be a Kennismaker?
About twelve excited primary school children are taught by two Kennismakers: how can you tell from a bone which animal it comes from? Two girls get into an argument over their bone. The Kennismaker intervenes. “Which picture does this bone look like?” she asks. “This one,” replies the girl after some hesitation. “And what do you think?” she asks the other girl. Patiently, the Kennismaker guides the girls through the questions in the workbook. At the end, they proudly present their find: their bone is a pig’s jawbone, and they could tell by the teeth.
Wayward adolescents
“Especially the classes with pupils who are not so keen I enjoy all the more,” says Joshua. He studies Film and Television Studies and has been a Kennismaker for two years. “Sometimes it is a challenge to show children that research is closer than they think. During the research tours, we always ask the question: ‘What is your association with science?’, and the answer I most often get is: ‘Albert Einstein’. The aim of the museum is also to show: science is something that happens not only in a lab but in many different places, and is something anyone can do.”
We show it’s fun to be curious and to figure things out.
Research is fun for vocational pupils too
Vera has been a Kennismaker since 2023 and is studying Linguistics. She says she was a vocational pupil herself. “I remember when university seemed like something that was completely out of reach for me. So I especially like it when pupils from vocational schools are here, because I think they feel the same way.” Maura, who studies Liberal Arts & Sciences and has been a Kennismaker for a year, adds: “The emphasis is on doing research, and that can be done in so many different ways. We try to stimulate everyone and then it doesn’t matter what educational level you are at. We show that it is fun to be curious and to figure things out.”
Own perspective
The Kennismakers are also given leeway to bring in their own expertise and perspective. Vera did a bachelor’s degree in English and checked translations for the museum. Joshua looks at representation in films in his studies and uses that perspective for the museum as well: “I try to give children a slightly broader picture of what a researcher can look like. Or I point it out when I see a PowerPoint for a research programme and think: this wording could maybe be a bit more inclusive.” Maura likes to look at the workshop about attention from the perspective of psychology: “Then I also use knowledge from my own field. I had training on interview skills; the interview questions I learnt there I can put to good use.”
Celebrating Sinterklaas together
There are now 20 Kennismakers who form a close-knit group. They have had collective training and also see each other outside work. “We have an app group in which we put fun sayings we heard in the museum, which is called Chatterboxes. We also use the group to have a little chat and banter with each other,” Joshua says. “We even celebrated Sinterklaas together!” Vera adds: “It’s great to have a really fun side job with a super nice team, where you can also grow personally and professionally.”
Text: Stephanie Helfferich
Chatterboxes
In an app group, the Kennismakers share fun sayings they hear at the museum:
Pupil vwo-1: “I really like it here, normally a museum is so boring and you have to listen, and here you can enjoy doing things yourself”
Some girls in the ‘Look, us animals’ room: “Secretly I think this room is pretty cool!”